Making a name for yourself
Padres 6, Giants 5
You could dream up a lot of great hitter-pitcher matchups.
Judge vs. Skenes
Ohtani vs. Misiorowski
And you could keep dreaming up matchups for the rest of your life. Only then would get to Osleivis Basabe vs. Mason Miller.
The most anonymous Giant vs. the game’s greatest reliever.
Miller’s fastball lives in the 100s. His slider skydives out of the strike zone.
As for Basabe? He hasn’t been in the majors in three years. The Giants DFA’d him last season.
And you can’t spell his last name without B-A-B-E.
That’s about the only way you can explain Basabe pulling (!) a 103 mph fastball down the line for a bases-loaded, game-tying double in the eighth. It was only the second extra-base hit allowed by Miller this season.
If only for a night, Basabe was the best bat in the Giants’ lineup. By the time he had his moment of magic against Miller, Basabe had already crushed a two-run homer earlier.
So with the go-ahead run on base in the ninth and Willy Adames at the plate, you couldn’t blame Duane Kuiper for saying what we were all thinking.
When does Basabe hit again?
Up next: The Tarik Skubal era begins for the Dodgers. Say what you will about all the money they spend on free agents, the arch rivals always have the prospects to trade for the game’s best available players. Machado. Mookie. Scherzer. The list goes on. Giants-Padres begins at 1:10 pm. Enjoy.